A Shadow World Gained a Shadow World Lost
by XxsilenceisgoldenxX
Summary: The Forbidden Game: What if Jenny carves Julians name back onto the Stave of Life. Where would it leave the two lovers, and where would it leave the entire Shadow World. This Fanfic will introduce my own characters, and it will also introduce a new game.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys this is my first fanfic, and I gotta say, I still have like no clue on how to use this site. Review if you think I should continue this story, cause this is hard work and I don't want to have cramped fingers and sore eyes for no reason. Comments, compliments, and advice are totally welcome and I hope you enjoy this story. :)**

** ~ XxsilenceisgoldenxX**

Jenny shuddered and continued on, trudging through the mist and snow. She had been walking through the shadow world for what felt like hours, and there was still no sign of her destination. She stopped at another twisted ice formation and slipped into a small hollow at its base to provide some refuge from the wind. Pulling out a soaked hand drawn map she inspected it closely and found she was still on the right path. She sighed and muttered "I'm tired and I'm not even at the hard part yet" and with that she rose to continue her journey.

After another ten minutes she stopped abruptly and gasped, before fleeing to the cover of a snow covered stone. There in the middle of the snow three small, grey, wrinkled fetus-shaped things hunched in the snow, and appeared to be preoccupied by something. In fact they appeared to be feasting on some poor creature, and Jenny had no interest in discovering more. The appearances of the shadow men, both the small grey ones and the large misshapen ones, were becoming much more common. Jenny took this as a hint that she was close to her destination, close to achieving the single most important thing in her life. And of course if she failed the price was her life, but really what was life's worth if she failed.

After carefully skirting around the shadow men, Jenny continued wary for the lumbering shapes and flashing colors that were becoming steadily more numerous in this hell of a blizzard. Finally her efforts were rewarded, for there looming in the distance, was the twisted blue-grey peak of the Rökkr pinnacle. Which when translated meant _shadow_ pinnacle. It was here in the twisted cavernous tunnels concealed in the mountain Jenny would find the Stave of Life. She picked up her pace and hugged all the boulders, quickly but carefully making her way to the titanic rock.

She reached its perimeter and slowly made her way around. Jenny and stopped at a distance when she saw the entrance to the caves was guarded by two massive Shadow men, one was missing most of its face and the other's flesh looked as though it was made of some sort of reptile's skin. They were so grotesque it took all of Jenny's self-control not to retch.

Jenny was prepared for this, after her three years of research she knew the Shadow men wouldn't leave their Stave of Life unprotected. She whipped a flare out of her bag with a match to accompany it. Jenny had taken extra care to purchase a flare that wouldn't explode and create light until it was over a hundred meters away, that way the shadow men couldn't trace it back to this location. She quickly sliced open her palm and doused the flare with a generous amount of her blood. She'd had enough experience with the elderly shadow men to know they would never pass up the chance to torment a human much less a wounded one. So even if the sound and color couldn't attract them they would surely explore her distraction because of the scent of human blood. It was meant to represent a wounded, confused, and lost human like the ones she'd so often seen wandering the shadow-scape. Though it hurt her beyond measure to leave the lost people behind, she couldn't risk having extra people accompany her.

Jenny braced herself, and lit the blood coated flare. It silently zoomed into the distance before bursting a hundred and fifty meters away, on the opposite side of the shadow men. She watched as the two disgusting creatures talked excitedly before loping off, with surprising grace, in the direction of her flare. Jenny allowed herself a brief moment of self-congratulations on her genius before scurrying off to the entrance. It was pitch dark so she quietly mouthed Kensaz, the rune of light, while tracing it in the air. A soft ball of light erupted at her finger tips and she continued on her way. She carefully stopped to inspect each branching wing of the tunnels, carefully consulting her map at each turn. Rökkr Pinnacle is a labyrinth and she was very careful not to lose her way. She found navigating the tunnels surprisingly easy, because she had memorized the directions in advance, and soon she was closing in on her desired cavern. At last she saw the soft blue glow that indicated that her destination was at hand, and entered a spacious blue cave with a hole at its roof a hundred meters up. The hole let a sickly blue light from the Shadow World along with lazily spinning snowflakes that had gone astray from the blizzard. Though it wasn't much light it was enough, she released her torch knowing she had to conserve the remainder of her energy for what was to come. Stepping into the cave Jenny approached a large flat rock that made a natural alter at the center of the cave. This was where the Stave of Life was kept; she brushed her lips against the golden band on her finger the one that read all _I am my only master. _Finally she allowed herself to think about Julian. _Julian_.

Just as she reached the rock she heard the furious pounding of many feet as they sprinted to the cavern. The other shadow men were coming! Jenny quickly let her pack slide down her shoulders to the floor. She tore into it until she located the five vials she had prepared for this moment. She hurriedly splashed the vials that contained her own blood in a large rectangle allowing as much room she could get with her limited supply of the precious fluid. She uncorked the last vial and dipped her finger into the blood just as the first shadow man burst into the cave. She scrabbled to the edge of her square scrapping the first rune Nauthiz, the rune of constraint, onto the floor in the crimson ink. The shadow men were less than forty meters away now and gaining ground fast.

Sweat was pouring down her face but she didn't stop, she continued to rapidly write down the necessary runes to complete her spell, one missed rune or one mispronounced name was all it took to doom her. She finished just as the first shadow man came bounding at Jenny at an alarmingly close distance, its hands were already out-stretched to snatch her from the ground. She blurted in a rush the names of her runes, listing their specific purposes in the spell. The ground lit up in a blinding white flash, causing the Shadow men to screech and stumble, that was all the time she needed. Because of his hesitation the lead shadow man slammed into an invisible, but solid wall rather than bursting into her protective enclosure. Jenny thanked every single one of her lucky stars, eternally grateful that she didn't trap herself with an enemy Shadow man.

She rose slowly, enjoys the twisted expressions of the shadow men as they each slammed into her invisible wall. One yowled in a voice like shattering glass "You can't hide from us, you filthy human, because we claim you as our prey! If you come out you are at our mercy and if you stay in your haven you'll die by mortal means". At the end of its monologue the shadow man smiled in triumph, clearly pleased with the situation. Jenny allowed herself a beaming smile of victory before saying "You shadow men know as well as I do that one can only claim its prey if he's in physical possession of the said prey. And it seems to me that not one of you has yet to get physical possession of me" She paused to enjoy their infuriated expressions. They were all in a rage because a human could play their game and play it well. "No matter" said a shadow man who had a voice was like wind chimes "We shall just wait you out until you die of_ natural_ causes". Jenny smiled again before saying "If that is the way you wish to play then know this: I am in possession of your precious stave of life." To emphasize her case she flicked out the sharp Swiss army knife she was carrying.

A look of pure unadulterated horror passed through the crowed of Shadow men, as they understood the situation they were in. Finally one Shadow man stepped forward from the crowed of other being that still appeared to be shocked. He said "My lady, games are held in high esteem among my people, and we know when we have been defeated. Tell us the terms of your victory and we will gladly oblige if you refrain from cutting out any of our names from our precious Stave." She smiled smugly before saying "All I wish is for all currently existing Shadow men to make a blood oath to never harm me, my friends Dee, Audrey, Zach, Summer, Michael, and Tom, as well as any shadow men I decide to make unless the natural unbreakable laws give a legitimate reason to bend this oath; for even I know I cannot change the laws. These are my terms and conditions". A look of cold fury swept through the crowd at Jenny's steep request but all they did was nod and accept the situation. About two hours later every shadow man had sworn the unbreakable oath to Jenny. Finally Jenny had the opportunity to do what had been her intention since the beginning of her quest three years ago. She approached the Stave of Life, despite the discontent murmurings of the Shadow men left watch the process. Delicately she caressed the surface of the smooth wood, seeing the liquid diamond glitter. Her fingers stopped at the ugly gaping gash that had once contained Julian's name.

She pulled out her knife and carefully carved the runes needed to recreate a Shadow man that had at one point existed. She also steadfastly carved the runes that ensured that Julian returned with all of his memories. Once done she carefully looked over the runes before slashing her finger and letting the blood drip down onto the Stave. Then in a revered whisper she recited Julian's Runes, saying each one delicately as if it were a sacred treasure. Once completed a freezing wind flew through the spacious cave, and shadows detached themselves from the wall. They whirled and circled and compressed themselves until a familiar silhouette distinguished itself from the shadows. Then slowly retreating the wind and shadows dispersed leaving a very handsome, very perfect, very confused, very naked Julian in their place. His eyes rose then widened as he saw Jenny then quietly he whispered in a voice like rock over water _"Jenny"_.

The reunion was short and sweet, involving a crushing embrace, and rushed words. Finally though hating herself Jenny disengaged herself from Julian. She retreated to her pack and tossed a pair of shorts to Julian. Who smiled his wolf smile before saying "I thought you preferred me this way". Jenny just rolled her eyes before saying "Julian, I missed you and I love you, and I definitely want to have a private reunion with you, but I need to finish my job before anything else." Julian raised an eyebrow, and Jenny rushed on "We need to even the playing field and create a new generation shadow men, that are on our side. I know the rune that made you different from the others and if we use it, it will create shadow men that have emotions like you. Every shadow man is going to try to destroy us, they swore an oath but we'll need all the help we can get if we're going to make this work". Julian nodded slowly and said I'll help as long as you tell me how this all happened. Jenny nodded and began to recount her story as Julian patiently listened.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey Guys I'm so sorry about all the huge grammar errors in my last chapter, I seriously didn't see them in any of my zillions of proof reads. Any ways be sure to review because I can't continue the story without motivation. Seriously review, I need a little pick-me-up. Enjoy :)**

Jenny sighed, content to be reclining against Julian. They were stationed on a plush love-seat in the corner of the room watching a heated game of poker between a Shadow man and his human partner. She had been a barista in Las Vegas before being taken to the Shadow world by one of Jenny's versions of Shadow men. Her experience in all gambling games had become evident; she could beat almost all of the Shadow men in any game found in a casino.

Julian leaned down and whispered in Jenny's ear "She's cheating; she has cards up her sleeve."

Jenny gasped, "How do you know?"

"That would be telling" He said, eyelids lowered obscuring his eyes beneath thick lashes.

"Should we tell Anundr?"

"No, we wouldn't want to ruin all the fun for his girl."

"Alright, Julian, but when Sandra's caught, all the Shadow men that have lost to her are going to have a fit."

"Precisely why we wait." Julian responded with a devilish grin.

Jenny giggled before saying "You're terrible."

"That's why you love me." Julian said before ducking his head to kiss Jenny. Jenny was more than happy to comply, and quickly gave herself up to the sweet, soft kiss.

The kiss was interrupted by somebody clearing their throat. It was Dee, and Jenny leapt from Julian's arms elated to see the only human friend she had in the Shadow world. Julian however looked quite cross at the interruption.

"Sunshine! How about that game of chess you promised!"

"Sure Dee, hey where have you been?"

"Just teaching Gage what it really means to have a black belt in Kung Fu."

Gage was the Shadow man who had coincidently fallen in love with one of Jenny's best friends on earth, and had managed to actually win the game that promised Dee to him. The two girls had been elated to find each other again and were nearly inseparable.

Jenny rolled her eyes and said "Sure, that's totally what you two were doing alone with each other for the past day."

"No really" Dee said, "Just ask him, I sure beat him up enough to prove it" As if on cue a tall Shadow man entered the room. He had Golden blonde hair and deep emerald-green eyes, like grass in Shadows. It was Dee's Shadow man Gage, and he was wearing a rather sour expression. He approached the two girls in the corner, glowering at Dee before threading his fingers into hers. Upon closer inspection Jenny saw an assortment of welts and bruises covering his skin, and she had to resist the temptation to laugh at the grumpy Shadow man.

"Well, well" Julian said, hands clasped behind his "It looks as though Deirdre had her way with you yet again."

Gage growled "Next time I'll get'er"

Dee gave a haughty laugh before saying "You wish."

This time Jenny did laugh, enjoying the competition between the couples. Shadow men had an interesting way of taking competition too seriously. It made all the games played in the lobby of the shadow manor, the Mansion that was constructed to provide a safe haven for all the newer Shadow men and their female partners, very interesting to watch.

"Well" Julian announced "The chess game you ladies mentioned sounds very interesting, perhaps you would allow Gage and I to join."

Gage added "I think we could help make this game much more entertaining", he was wearing a dangerous smile.

Dee flashed Jenny a vicious grin before saying "Why not, tiger, you and Julian against me and Gage. What could go wrong?"

Jenny knew when Shadow men were involved a lot could go wrong, but she didn't voice her thoughts. Instead she agreed enthusiastically to the plans.

"Excellent" Julian exclaimed before clapping his hands. Then everything went dark.

Jenny awoke sitting in a huge throne, made of soft black velvet. The throne overlooked a massive chess board, the size of a football field. On the far end of the chess board/field a similar throne stood, this one made of white velvet, and on it Jenny could just make out the dark outline a Dee. Jenny smiled to herself, this certainly was more interesting.

She surveyed the board, and saw an army of black armored knights on her side, and a white army on Dee's. She lifted her arm and pointed at a Knight and commanded "Move" and to her surprise it stepped forward into a new square. _Good job_ a voice said in her head that was unmistakably Julian's _You were supposed to wait for my instructions. Well_ Jenny thought _I didn't know that. No Matter we can still win_ Julian projected into her head, then a white knight stepped forward. _Our Turn _said Julian _Listen carefully and move that piece…_


	3. Chapter 3

**This is the chapter where hopefully everything will start to pick up, also, I'll be introducing my own characters. Since I have no doubts that I'd never be able to do L.J. Smith's characters justice, most of this Fanfic will be with these character. All rights go to L.J. Smith.**

Izzy continued down the pine-needle covered path, enjoying the comfort the forest provided. The beautiful pine tree's seemed to stand guard over her like the ancient sentries of some long forgotten Kingdom. The quiet murmur of the stream and the occasional trill of the birds were the only things to break the restful silence. Yes, Izzy felt at peace, comfortable, and most importantly she felt alone.

It had started almost three years ago, the feeling of being watched. It was almost constant, the prickles of unease, the jolt up her spine, and the intense tingles along her scalp. At first she was convinced the feeling of being watched would go away or maybe that the sensations would subside, but they never had. The feelings were always just as strong as the ones before, they always came back.

Izzy had found that the feelings would subside or even completely disappear when she ventured into the forest, so the forest was where she spent most of her time. That's where she was now; tromping through the San Bernardino Mountains on the trails she had worn through her previous excursions. The backpack she wore was rattling with her sketching supplies; the rare window of privacy was what she needed to draw in peace.

Finally she reached the boulder she had in mind for today. It was a little shorter than a two-story house and all of its sides were covered in little nooks and crannies, making it possible to scale the giant rock. This was one of her favorite places to draw, and it was by far the most beautiful. This was her private place, her sanctuary and she had never told anyone about her secret trails in the forest.

Placing her hand on the first hand hold she took a breath and began to scale the boulder. Climbing rocks and tree's had become something Izzy was quite good at; the years of venturing into the forest had made her more rugged than most of the inhabitants of Crestline, and that was saying something. Her hands and feet seemed to move on their own, easily shifting from one hold to the next. Soon she was hauling herself over the edge, hardly ruffled despite her exertions.

She settled down on the flattest part of the rock and gazed out across the forest. The rock wasn't taller than the monstrous pines, but since it was situated on the top of a slope, Izzy was able to gaze across the sea of pines with a clear view all the way to Crestline. She tugged out her sketch book and then her art supplies, relieving her precious tools of the confinement of her backpack. She was a strange artist; her sketch book was filled with random pictures. Some pages had trees, rivers, and mountains carefully drawn into the book, while others had animals and people shown in their daily lives. The strangest however were the sketches of monsters, sprinkled throughout the book.

She brushed her fingers lovingly across the pages that depicted monsters they were unlike any other people's drawings because their only model was her imagination. One was blue furred and sturdy she had gotten the inspiration from a snow storm, another had wrinkled gray skin and bulbous eyes, its flesh was studded with viscous scales and spikes. Her book was colorful, changing between black, grey, and colored sketches, some depicting natural things while others showed off nonexistent beasts. The strange medley of artwork was her most prized possession; it was almost as if the innocent book reflected her very soul.

She settled on a blank page and began to lightly lay down the general shape of a monster that she had wanted to draw for a while. She had never had the chance because the feeling of being watched had been constant for the past month. For some reason Izzy had trouble drawing, reading, and writing when the feeling was around. It was probably because her focus was off when it was around, it was almost violating to do her personal hobbies with the feeling a being watched. She had tried to ignore it, but panic was beginning to build up inside her.

The animal feeling of being stalked by some unseen predator was the closest she had come to describing it. Once she had seen a squirrel snuffling among the needles, when it had suddenly bolted upright. Izzy had looked around but couldn't find what had alarmed it. She remembered seeing its ears flicking this way and that, its nose furiously working to decode some message in the air. At the time she had thought it was because of her, but that couldn't have been it because she was inside her cabin, the squirrel hadn't known about her. Suddenly the squirrel bolted for a pine tree, but it hadn't even made it five feet before the hawk came hurtling out of the sky. To this day she hadn't figured out how the squirrel knew it was in trouble, animal instinct maybe.

Now Izzy felt like that squirrel, knowing something was wrong but not knowing what it is. She could almost sense her unseen predator, getting ready to dive down for the kill. The only difference between her and the squirrel was she had nowhere to hide, no tree to escape to. Nowhere to go to save herself from the unseen menace, she was completely and utterly alone, unprotected from the fast approaching disaster.

Just when she had finished the general design of her monster-to-be, fear gripped her. It was as if someone had dropped an ice cube down the back of her shirt. Goose bumps rippled across her skin, electric tingles danced through her body. The feeling had never been this strong, and she leapt to her feet and whirled around, checking for whatever it was that was causing this. To her relief the rock and surrounding forest was void of any menacing beings, with a sigh of relief she moved to pick up her scattered belongings.

Her sketch book was safe, and so were most of her pencils, to her disappointment, however, her two best sketching pencils had plummeted off the rock when she had jumped. She hurriedly packed her stuff, before carefully climbing down the rock. Going up was always easier than going down. As soon as her feet hit the ground she sprinted off into the forest, trying to run off the feeling of complete and utter terror. No matter how fast she ran, though, she couldn't escape the feeling eyes boring into her back.

**Special thanks to a certain reviewer for the wonderfull advice. I'll try my best to improve what you mentioned, and hopefully my writing will start to improve. Thanks again.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay another chapter. I hope that the people who read it enjoy it!**

Izzy trotted up the steep, somewhat hazardous stairs, planning to go to bed. She was feeling rather content at the moment; she was stuffed from the late night snack and happy to know that tomorrow was Saturday. Just as she reached her pale white door at the end of the hall a high keening caught her attention. She whirled around and quickly located where the sounds were coming from. She raced into the room just down the hall to find her baby sister Emily awake and wailing.

Izzy reached the child's bed, and scooped the small girl into her arms. "Hey Em, what's the matter?" she crooned. The little girl just blinked and continued to sniffle; heavy tears sparkled on her lashes. It took several minutes but Izzy eventually calmed down the distraught girl. Again she questioned the child "What's wrong?" this time Emily whimpered "I had a nightmare". Poor Emily who was barely seven had been having nightmares for almost a month now. Izzy glanced at the clock and was surprised to see it was only ten thirty. Most of the time Emily had her nightmares much later; around twelve. For some reason it made sense for nightmares to manifest themselves at the witching hour.

"You wanna talk about it" Izzy said softly. The little girl vigorously shook her head in an answer.

"Come on, you'll feel better once you talk" Izzy said

The girl whimpered once more before saying: "You promise?"

"Scout's honor" Izzy said smiling because she'd never been a scout. It always seemed to please Emily when scouts honor or pinkie promises were involved.

Appearing satisfied the girl stated "A scary guy said he wanted to play a game"

"Oh" said Izzy "What else happened?"

"I said no because you don't talk to strangers"

"That's right" inserted Izzy "You don't talk to strangers"

Emily nodded in agreement "When I told him that, he was mad, he said the boogieman would get me if I didn't play" Shudders wracked her small frame and she let out a tiny sob.

"There is no boogie man and there is no scary guy" Izzy said firmly.

Emily nodded and sniffled loudly again "He said we we're playing hide and seek. I did my best and hid under a scary twisted black thingy."

"And did you win?" asked Izzy.

A fat trailed down the baby girl's cheek then she whispered "No, he found me. Then he said I was his unless he got what he wanted."

Alarm shot through Izzy at Emily's last statement. For some reason she found this dream incredibly unsettling, it had chilled her to her bones. When she thought about it, she realized how strange Emily's nightmare was. Instead of the clowns or tigers or giants the little girl dreamt of normally this nightmare was strangely realistic. Also Emily had never been able to recount a nightmare this exactly before; it was always a few scattered phrases and a short vague description. It filled Izzy with a sense of profound dread. Something must have shown in Izzy's expression though, because Emily's eyes widened in terror.

"Is he real!?" Emily cried

"No, no, Em he's not real. This didn't and never will happen as long as I'm your sister" Izzy said firmly. After that Izzy tried her best to shove down her own, irrational fear.

"What happened next?" Izzy prompted gently.

Emily shuddered again before saying "After that he picked me up and carried me into a swirly black hole." She cried out again.

Izzy soothed her before asking "Then did you wake up?" The girl nodded in response.

Lifting Emily from her lap she placed the quivering child back on her bed. She arranged the blankets firmly around Emily's sides; tucking her in carefully.

"There don't you feel better?" said Izzy.

"No." Emily said grumpily.

"Yes you do, you just don't know it yet."

With that Izzy cleaned the tear marks from the child's face before whispering "Goodnight". She leaned down and kissed Emily's Forehead and carefully made her way out of the room. When she turned an electric tingle ran up her spine, she ignored it.

Once back in the safety of her room, Izzy contemplated the nightmare. In the end she decided to blame the cookies Emily had eaten before bed. Even as she came to this conclusion she knew it was a lie. Blaming food was always the lame lie people told themselves to make things seem better; even so, this was her explanation. She pushed all thoughts of nightmares and demons out of her mind, and got ready for bed.

She selected a baggy t-shirt and some sweatpants for pajamas and slid into bed. She closed her eyes and again felt a tingle in her spine. Again she chose to ignore it; she opted for sleeps dark embrace rather than worrying over it. She should have worried.

Izzy bolted upright a scream on her lips. She whirled around in her bed, trying to locate the source of her discomfort. No, discomfort wasn't a strong enough word. She was panicked, terrified of the unknown menace, sweat was pouring from her skin, her breathing was quick and shallow, her eyelids were stretched back exposing the whites of her eyes, her mouth was dry, her pulse was racing, and everywhere her skin was throbbing with electrified energy. It was almost as if she had stuck a fork in an outlet. She looked at her clock, it was exactly midnight. Weird she thought to herself. A final sweep of the room comforted her. But wait, no there was a shape in the corner. She straightened and squinted at the dark spot.

The more she stared the more she grew sure that that silhouette was not supposed to be there. Just as she reached that conclusion a low, calm chuckle rolled through the room. This time she really did scream, she sprang from the bed and bolted to the door. The figure beat her to the door with ease blocking her path. She spun and ran towards the window intending to use the roof for her escape. She hadn't made it halfway when the figure darted forwards, barring her way. No human should move that fast was her frantic conclusion.

She loosened her lip and let loose another shrill, earsplitting scream, followed by a yelled "Help!" The figure laughed again before stepping into the moonlight. Izzy stopped mid-scream and stared mouth agape at the figure before her. He was handsome, in an exotic, uncanny way. It was as if some Greek god had stepped away from the heavens and into her room. Yes he was beautiful, but in a terrifying, viscous way.

He was fairly tall, probably about six feet tall. He had a shock of silver hair, silver as in the shining precious metal. It looks as though his hair was made up of perfect spun threads of pure silver. It took Izzy all of three seconds to determine that silver was his natural unnatural hair color. He also had strange bright eyes; they looked almost silver too, but with only a slight hint of clear, crystalline blue. His eyes were every bit as shocking as his hair, if not more so. Combined with his pale skin, the effect was as if all of the color had bled from his person. As far as clothes, he wore black designer jeans, and a fitted black V-neck; this created a startling contrast against his hair and eyes.

The most frightening thing however, was his expression. He looked like a starving tiger, staring at the food that had been spread before him. And Izzy was pretty sure she was the food. He gave a cocky smile at her reaction, and that brought Izzy from her stupor. Moving her jaw a few time's Izzy finally found her voice. "What do you want?" she managed to croak out "You" he stated simply. That made it much more terrifying. In answer Izzy threw back her head and screamed again.

When she had stopped screaming the boy calmly said "They can't hear you, you know" he finished his statement with a hungry smile. "Why not!?" Izzy said indignantly, forgetting herself for a moment. "Because I put them all to sleep. They won't wake up until I choose for them to wake up." This new revelation frightened Izzy on a number of levels.

Then Izzy managed to choke out "Go away"

"I'm afraid the only one who will be leaving is you." He said. Izzy then noticed that his voice was full of elemental music, like wind rushing through trees.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Izzy seethed.

"I can't make you, but I think you'll be coming anyway" he said with a smile.

"Think again, creep. I'm not going anywhere with you"

His eyelids lowered over his eyes as if they couldn't support the weight of his thick jet-black lashes: then he said "Not even if your sister will take your place?"

Izzy froze "What have you done with my sister?"

"Nothing yet, but I will have to take her if you refuse to come." He smiled again as if this was some kind of joke.

Izzy stood frozen her mind whirling, looking for a way out. Finding none, she looked at the only possible solution. She would rather die than let harm fall upon Emily, her throat constricted and she knew what she had to do. Finally she whispered "I'll go."

"Wonderful" he said smiling a chilling, starving smile.

"But first," Izzy said "Promise you won't harm my family, and tell me what you're going to do with me."

"I swear as a shadow man not to harm you family if you come with me willingly." He said happy to comply.

"What are you going to do with me?" Izzy asked

"Why, we'll play a game of course." He said condescendingly. His tone infuriated Izzy, so she just screamed out: "What does that mean?"

"It means if you win your free to go, but if I win your mine… forever"

Then Izzy collapsed onto the ground, darkness closing. Fear for her future gripped her, hate for this stranger shot through her. Izzy swore to herself to do whatever it takes to beat this stranger at his own sick game. She pondered why she never asked his name, when she won her freedom she would need to notify the police. Her mind ran in meaningless circles, contemplating this and that, regretting not paying attention. She silently felt sorry for herself, and watched as the guy stepped towards her dresser and picked up her sketch book. She blacked out while watching him flip through the pages of her most private possession.

The darkness was almost a gift, almost.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys another chapter. Hope you enjoy it :)**

Consciousness slowly seeped back to Izzy, chasing the thick fog from her mind. She was laying on spongy stuff, and they were uncomfortable pricks against her cheek which was resting on the ground. She slowly lifted her hand and winced at her soreness. She carefully ran her fingers over the ground and was surprised to find pine needles instead of the carpet of her room. Izzy also took notice of the heavy scent of pine needles for the first time. Opening her eyes she saw what her senses had been telling her: she was in the woods.

Izzy rose into a sitting position and had a look around, she was indeed in her forest, sitting smack in the middle of one of the clearings she'd discovered on one of her previous trips. Maybe she'd fallen asleep on her hike? No she was in her pajamas, and besides she couldn't have slept here the entire night, that would mean she'd spent almost fourteen hours missing. She looked around again puzzling over the strangeness of this situation. In the back of her mind something was screaming for her to panic, telling her to remember something important. She knew her parents were probably worried but that wasn't the source of her discomfort, it was something much more important than that.

"Welcome to the game." A musical, deep voice said behind her.

Izzy turned slowly and as soon as her eyes met his she knew where she was and what was happening: she was playing a game with this creep for her life. She remembered that last night he had threatened to hurt Emily unless she played some game with him. Without tiredness fogging up her mind she could see how stupid she had been last night: She just agreed to do this without any fight whatsoever. She could have stalled him until somebody noticed something was wrong, she could have attacked him, she could have waited for an escape opportunity, heck, she could have asked for his name to call the police and tell them about him. But no she just stood their stupidly and let this happen, Izzy decided she was either sleep deprived, in a panic, or just much dumber than she originally thought herself to be. She hoped it wasn't the last one.

"Who are you?" Izzy asked slowly

"A shadow, a legend, a myth, a hunter, a nightmare, but you may call me Kai." He said whimsically. Izzy just stared at him; great he was not only dangerous but crazy.

"How do I win?" Izzy asked in an irritated fashion.

"Would you like that to be your first hint?" It looked as though he was holding back a laugh. This guy was really rubbing her the wrong way; it took a lot of self-control not to punch him. Instead she said:

"Yeah, actually knowing the rules to the game would be a great hint, maybe then I could actually start beating you"

Kai's eyes hardened and looked like two twin steel blades then he said "The rules are simple: I try to capture you in any way I can, and you try to escape. It's almost like a game of capture the flag, you being the flag. To make it fair every time you escape me I will give you a hint, a prize, or a chance to win any one of these. You _had _a free hint but you used it for this." He finished this with a hungry smile. His eyes were dancing with a playful fire.

"You tricked me! I could have figured out that I shouldn't get captured myself!" Izzy couldn't believe how stupid she'd been, again! She'd lost her freebie for that; she could have done so much better if she just knew what Kai had up his sleeve.

"Are you sure about that?" He said, his eyes laughing

"Uggh" I scream "Go away so I can win!"

His eyes hardened again but he still smiled "Good luck, Isabel."

Izzy shuddered, she knew for a fact she had never told him her name. He gave another smooth chuckle before fading back into the forest.

"It's Izzy!" she called angrily after him, but if he heard her he gave no indication. She watched him until he vanished in the shadows before turning to follow the path from the clearing to the forest. She let out a jittery sigh, she'd tried to act semi-brave when he was around, but in reality she was so terrified of him it took all of her strength not to beg him for a way out of this mess. But no, she couldn't beg, not now not ever, she would win this twisted game even if it killed her. So she trotted down the forest path, determined to not get caught.

As she walked she began to notice the subtle differences from this forest and the one at home she'd originally thought it to be. Yes, the scenery was spot on, all of the snarled roots were in the right places, boulders were where they should have been, the path meandered in the right direction, but it wasn't the same. There was no wildlife: no squirrels and birds, no butterflies and beetles; it was just Izzy and the silent forest. The trees were also less comforting, they had a more menacing air, hunching over her like they wanted to snap her up. There was no physical difference, it was just the atmosphere. Even though it was different Izzy was happy to be in a forest haunted or not, it felt more like home, like she was in her element.

The further she walked from the clearing the darker it became, more trees crowded around Izzy and the forest became less and less familiar. The ground was covered in a thick blanket of still green pine needles muffling her footsteps, Izzy was glad for that it made her less likely to be found. A slight creak like wood bending caught her attention, it made her uneasy so she decided to stop and look around. There was nothing in the branches of the pines around her, and nothing in the brush so she calmed down.

Once Izzy resumed walking the creaks started up again, when she looked around she finally saw the cause of it: the wind was bending the branches of the pines around her. She couldn't help but smile at her own silly paranoia. The forest was soon alive with creaks, but she ignored it. Then a sharp snap sounded through the forest, causing Izzy to jump. She glanced worriedly over her shoulder but saw nothing so she just walked a little faster. Sharp creaks and snaps sounded behind her again so she turned around and again saw nothing. Feeling very disconcerted she began to jog only to be stopped by a low growl. She turned and saw the tiniest flicker of movement behind her, that was all the motivation Izzy need to flee. Just as she turned to sprint for an escape she saw something that stopped her dead in her tracks. There in the middle of the path stood a tall skinny, vaguely familiar creature.

On all fours the beast was the size of a small person, and had the build of a greyhound. It was a brown gray in color and had thick leathery skin. It was most certainly not any natural animal. It's head was adorned with horns that looked exactly like tree branches, along it's spin more branch looking growths sat. It had shrewd bright yellow eyes, with yellowing fangs and claws: on the whole it looked like something not to be messed with. It began to slowly walk towards her like it was about to pounce, and every time it moved its body creaked as if it were made of wood.

The forest behind Izzy exploded in noise and a quick glance over her shoulder revealed six more creatures identical to the one coming towards her. Panic flooded her, and she prepared to run off the path and into the forest. Just before she bolted she figured out why these monsters were familiar: they were an exact replica of a monster she had once drawn in her sketch book. It literally looked as though they had been brought to life from her book. _So that's what he's playing at _thought Izzy as she flung herself off the path.

Izzy frantically ran through the treacherous forest stumbling on what felt like every object she passed. Behind her the forest was alive with creaks, growls, hisses, and the soft thud of rapidly moving feet over pine needles. She could hear the monsters crash through the foliage in hot pursuit, gaining rapidly on her. There was no way she could outrun these things, it was like they were made to chase her through the forest. What was she thinking when she drew that monster?

Soon two monsters split from the main group, each running on either side of Izzy. She could feel the monsters hot breath on her ankles, while the ones at her sides began closing in. To avoid being trapped between their two spiny shoulders Izzy took a sharp left turn. The monsters broke out in sharp excited yips, continuing to give chase. There was no way Izzy could escape; she already could feel a stich in her side. Rough nips exploded at her calves and ankles, forcing her to angle her path slightly to the right. Izzy contemplated climbing a tree, but as soon as she angled herself to a climbable tree she was punished with rough shoves and sharp bites. It seemed as though she couldn't get anywhere without the monsters approval, it was kind of like the beasts had a pre-determined path for her. In fact it was like they were herding her, altering her path with nips, bites, and shoves.

Branches tore at her face and arms while the creatures ripped at her legs and feet. She turned again changing her path to fit the creature's demands; they were angling her towards a distant boulder. She gasped and tripped, falling in the hard earth: she couldn't go much further. The creatures were angered at her failure to continue so they delivered swift retribution, ripping at her skin and clothes. At first Izzy wanted to stay on the ground but pain soon drove her on her feet and with the encouragement of the monster she resumed a limp-running. She was gasping for breath, and her muscles were on fire when she finally burst into the clearing.

To her excitement she saw that the boulder the creatures brought her to had a small hole at its base, in fact it was just the right size to protect her and keep the beasts out. But no, the monsters had angled her right to the hole, as if that's what they wanted. In fact the only reason they would angle her to the hole was to trap her! That's how they intended to capture her! It all made sense to Izzy and she knew no matter what she couldn't go into the hole. Just to the right of the hole the boulder was rocky, perfect for climbing, and Izzy knew how to save herself from the monsters.

She altered her path just slightly to the right, and the monsters didn't seem to notice. Fifteen yards left. Ten, her legs were on fire. Five, the monsters noticed. Three, they were viscously biting trying to shove her in the hole. One yard left, she jumped. Slamming into the rock at full speed was painful, but Izzy clung to it as if it was life. She scrambled at the rock, her weak limbs protesting anymore exertion. The beasts launched themselves at her, ripping at her body, but still she hung on. One step at a time she scaled the rock, monsters hung on with tooth and nail, her muscles quivered, and her blood was dripping from her torn skin. Finally her fingers reached the top, and with an effort that felt similar to dying she hauled herself over the edge. She kicked out at any monsters that still clung to her then collapsed on the rock.

"Enjoying the game?" A whimsical voice asked.

Izzy peeled back one of her eyelids and looked at Kai before saying "Love it. But not nearly as much as you."

"That is most likely true." Kai said thoughtfully before taking a seat next to where Izzy lay sprawled.

"Are you here to whisk me away to my death?" Izzy asked tiredly, knowing full well if that was the case she was doomed. Looking down at herself she saw she was coated in blood, numerous scrapes and gashes adorned her body, a fine sheen of sweat covered her, her clothes were shreds, and her muscles were so sore movement seemed impossible. She was helpless to this monster.

"Hardly" Kai scoffed "I don't cheat. I'm here to congratulate you on completing the first level. Bear in mind however, that the levels will become increasingly more difficult." Even though Izzy wasn't looking at him she knew he was smiling. She couldn't stand the thought of this getting harder, she barely survived the first level.

"Because you completed level one, I'm giving you the opportunity to receive a prize." continued Kai.

"Well" Izzy said "I'm waiting." The idea of help, any kind, of help was a wonderful thought.

Kai laughed "I'm giving you a _chance _at a prize. First you have to solve a riddle." His lashes lowered obscuring his luminous light eyes.

Izzy mumbled "Of course there are strings attached." It was even worse because riddles were something she was terrible at. She just didn't have the type of creativity to see the answers. And Izzy was sure Kai was aware of her short comings. Then she said: "Let's hear you riddle."

"You see me when your eyes are closed; you feel me without touch.

In weight I am less than air but still I'm worth so much.

Many men have died for what they think is right.

Listen carefully and heed these words: I only live at night."

Based off of the smile Kai wore the answer was painfully obvious. Izzy however, had no clue, where to

start; he might as well have spoken in a foreign language.

"Religion?" Izzy ventured.

"Admirable effort but no." Kai laughed, his musical voice echoing through the forest. "Good luck in the next level, and next time we meet I'll be expecting an answer."

He vanished out of thin air before Izzy could complain, scream, argue, or glean any information from him. Still she couldn't help but scream out in frustration. Okay maybe not just frustration but also in pain, agony, sadness, despair, hate, and anger. She looked over the edge of the rock and was surprised to see that the wood monsters had disappeared. She half climbed half fell from the rock, her abused body screaming in protest.

She straightened her back and walked onto the path that she knew for a fact hadn't been there before. She walked with as much grace as she could manage into the forest, daring Kai to do his worst. _Level two here I come_ Izzy thought grimly, continuing forward without a backwards glance.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's the next chapter! Big thanks to all the persistent readers who made it this far.**

After only thirty minutes of walking, Izzy's body was screaming in protest. Still, despite her wounds from the tree-monsters, she had been moving at a good clip. She estimated that she'd covered about a mile. But now, she was in agony: every movement, no matter how small, seemed to open up some newly sealed scab from the numerous gashes she'd received in the first level. Finally, giving into her body's demands, she collapsed under the shadow of a tree.

Breathing hard she took in the woods; they looked completely different from when she started this sick game. The pine trees were taller, darker, and contorted in unnatural shapes. Only weak sunshine managed to filter through the thick pine needle canopy, creating the impression of perpetual twilight. And it was completely still, no noise, no movement, no life. That was what frightened Izzy the most.

Izzy knew she had to get up, if she didn't she would undoubtedly get caught. Right now she was a sitting duck. But she couldn't seem to rally her body enough to get up, every muscle screamed in protest when she tried. She knew she was being weak but just the sight of her blood was enough to keep her from moving. Since it was clear she had no intention of getting up she thought about the riddle.

"You see me when your eyes are closed, you feel me without touch." That phrase alone seemed to be trying to yell the answer at her. She cursed herself for her own inability to solve the simple puzzle.

A rustling broke her out of her reverie, normally small noises like that wouldn't bother her in the woods. In these woods however, a noise not made by her was alien, and most certainly dangerous. That noise was what it took to get her up.

Izzy struggled to her feet, a riot of pain ripping through her body as she did. As soon as she was on her feet she ran back onto the path, and further into the menacing woods. Actually it was more of a fast limp back onto the path. A dark hiss floated from the thick brush behind her. That hiss instantly let Izzy know level two had begun, and that a monster of her own creation was on her trail. In a strange way, Izzy was almost giddy at the thought of seeing the next incredible monster of her own design.

Another long, low hiss flowed from the dark, but Izzy couldn't see her attacker. She struggled on trying to get as much speed possible from her battered body. Soon it became obvious she couldn't keep this pace up, instead she tried to speed walk. After another ten minutes of fleeing the ominous hissing, Izzy couldn't even speed walk. She limped to a particularly warped tree, and placed a shaky hand on a twisted knot. Another hiss rang through the trees, this one alarmingly close.

Izzy tried her best, and started scrambling up the tree. Normally a tree like this would provide no challenge; there were enough hand and footholds on the surface. Izzy's body however, couldn't manage the feat without considerable effort. When she was five meters up, Izzy saw a massive black shape burst from the dark forest. Moments later something heavy swatted her from the tree. The fall could have easily broken bones but when she was inches from the ground she abruptly stopped and floated for a few seconds before being lowered to the ground by an unseen force.

As soon as she was on the ground another heavy blow landed on her shoulder. She turned around and saw her attacker clearly for the first time. Instantly all excitement at seeing another monster vanished, in its place a cold dread seeped in. A massive black beast loomed in front of her. It looked like some demonic panther, with burning red eyes and wicked gleaming fangs that were at least two feet long. Most terrifying of all was most definitely its size; it was almost as large as a school bus. It crouched and hissed preparing to launch into another attack, its red eyes gleaming with amusement. _Like a cat and mouse _Izzy thought bitterly. She struggled to her feet only to be knocked down after a few steps by the saber-tooth panther demon.

When she was on her back again the feline beast loomed over her, grinning in a fiendish way. It began to juggle her between its massive midnight black paws, tossing her in the air only to catch her again. All the while Izzy was screaming, and shrieking, and much to her own disgust sobbing in terror, while enduring the playful torture. She was tossed in the air again and this time the beast failed to catch her, she landed heavily on her side knocking the breath out of her. Despite the excruciating pain and burning humiliation, Izzy wasted no time and began to rapidly crawl towards the tree she intended to scale. She made it a few yards before she was shoved face first into the ground, letting dirt get shoved into the orifices of her face.

Massive paws came to rest on her shoulder blades and the weight of the monster made all of the air in her lungs seep out of her body. If she stayed under the monster much longer Izzy feared her bones would begin to crack. She didn't have to wait long however before the jet black creature did something new. Foul, moist breath washed over Izzy's body before she felt the T-shirt she was wearing begin to bunch up on her back. Warm hard objects slid across her bare back, and she realized they were the monsters massive fangs. Once her shirt was locked firmly in the monsters mouth the pressure eased up on her back. The next thing Izzy knew, she was being hoisted in the air.

The panther-demon was carrying her in a manner similar to the way a lioness would carry a cub, hanging by her clothes from its mouth. She swayed helplessly in the air, her face burning in the humiliation of the way she would be delivered to Kai. The feline creature let out a deep rumpling purr that made Izzy shake, and it began to trot down the path. It didn't move with too much haste, clearly in no hurry, and Izzy didn't think she had a chance of escape. After only five minutes Izzy sighed and resigned herself to defeat. She was beat. There couldn't be a way to escape this demonic beast.

Soon, an all too familiar rock formation loomed in the distance; it was the one the tree-monsters had attempted to trap her in. There was no way they could be headed to that rock, considering she had walked in the opposite direction on a completely straight path. The panther creature hadn't switched directions either, despite all this the rock was there clear as day. Izzy had to remind herself that this wasn't her world anymore. She was playing by a whole new confusing, whimsical, nonsensical, and treacherous set of rules.

Seeing her doom so close inspired another wave of panic based energy, as well as a renewed will to escape. Her adrenaline rush gave her one last idea, one she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of before. Even though it was her only hope she was still reluctant. Musical laughter that was unmistakably Kai's floated through the trees, which spurred Izzy to move.

Izzy began to furiously wriggle in her shirt, trying to slip from the beasts hold on her clothes. Once she had successfully freed her arms and torso from the shirt she made an unfortunate discovery: the monster was also holding her by the sports bra she had worn to bed. With a disgusted snort she began to wriggle from the bra, this proved to be much more difficult. On three different occasions the panther monster shook her because her struggles had irritated it. Constantly being shaken didn't help her efforts and being delayed meant almost certain doom. She had to hurry, because she could now see the individual details on the rock.

Just when she had freed herself from the sports bra, she looked down; she hadn't anticipated the fall. There was no time to plan a safer way down from her aerial position in a monsters jaw, and before she knew it, she slid from her clothes to be embraced by the air. She briefly plummeted to the ground, her bare torso exposed to the world. Then Izzy slammed on the ground, the impact jarring her senses. She wasted no time despite her previous wounds as well as her newly sprained ankle; she just grimaced and bolted for a thicket of trees. An enraged roar sounded behind her, but no noise followed her; the panther demon wasn't giving chase.

Even though there was no sign of pursuit, Izzy continued to flee, ignoring the stabs of pain. She let her mind go numb, oblivious to the crippling pain and freely flowing blood from broken scabs, and ran for all she was worth. Scenery blurred and branches tore at her exposed flesh, Izzy didn't care where she was going as long as it was away from the hated rock and the evil abomination. She almost lost track of where she was and where she was going, there was only forward and the mindless urge to escape.

She could have run for a longer period of time, for she certainly had the adrenaline fuelled energy to do so; but, she crashed head-on into a solid object. Izzy tumbled to the ground, the loss of momentum allowing her pain to flood back to her senses, and stared into bright silver eyes. She had crashed into Kai, who clearly looked amused. A hot blush worked its way onto her face, and she self-consciously crossed her arms over her bare chest.

"I trust you're enjoying the game?" Izzy just stuttered and fumbled for a comeback in the embarrassing situation.

Kai smiled at her embarrassment before saying "I'm here to congratulate you on your victory and of course give you the opportunity to receive a prize."

Izzy, who had started to get her sense back, stated bitterly "Oh, I thought you were here to apologize for what's happened to me."

"I'm sorry"

"What?" Izzy was taken aback.

"I'm sorry" He said again, with just a touch of sadness in his eyes "I didn't anticipate so much harm to befall you."

With her anger returned in full, Izzy scrambled to her feet before saying, "I'm sure you're not sorry enough to let me go, are you?"

"I will never let you go." He said it in a low, almost-sexy tone. This freaked Izzy out, especially since the only thing she was wearing on the top was her crossed arms.

"That's what I thought," she said trying to appear unruffled.

"Do you have the answer to the riddle?" he asked abruptly, changing moods. Izzy was perplexed at his constant mood swings. But it would be a waste to puzzle over him; it would be much more useful to her to solve the riddle instead.

"Would you give me a hint?" Izzy asked, already knowing the answer.

A small smile slid over his lips "I wouldn't _dream_ of it." _Dream. _It crashed down on her. _Of course the answer was dream. S_he couldn't believe her own stupidity.

"It's a dream" she muttered while face-palming herself. Kai's eyes danced with amusement before announcing, "Good job, you've won the prize of level one!" The phrase _good job_ was dripping with sarcasm. With that he dramatically produced a tiny bottle. He then offered the bottle to Izzy, the tiny purple vial resting innocently in his upturned palm.

"What is it?" Izzy asked suspiciously.

"It's a drink that will help you… go on take it." He answered innocently.

Izzy glance down at her arms, which were currently occupied, before trying to reposition herself so that only one arm would cover her chest. With some success she took the tiny bottle in her free hand.

"What now?" she asked, letting impatience color her tone.

"Now you drink it," he said evenly.

Izzy balked. "You expect me to drink some random thing you handed to me? If you haven't noticed, you haven't given me a reason to trust you!"

"Fair enough, but it was implied that I can only give you prizes that will help you. I think you'll find this prize most helpful."

Izzy glared at him before staring at the bottle. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was actually very thirsty; and at the moment, poison sounded pretty good. "Would you mind getting the lid for me, my arms happen to be full at the moment." Kai just laughed but took the bottle from her hand and unstopped the bottle. Izzy heard his comment, which she thought went something like, "your arms are very full". She couldn't help but blush.

"I suggest you drink only a small amount," said Kai "you might want to save some for later."

Izzy shrugged but decided listening wouldn't hurt. She took the purple bottle and took a tiny experimental sip. Bitter flavor exploded across her tongue; but, it was too late to spit it out, considering she had already swallowed it.

"What was that?" Izzy coughed.

"A gift beyond measure," Kai said.

Izzy could care less about his answer because blackness was closing in on her vision. She stumbled forward collapsing into Kai. He hesitated before catching her, but she didn't stay conscious long enough to see what he did next.

…

Silver was the first thing she saw: silver hair and silver eyes. Kai was staring down at Izzy, the situation slowly dawning on her. Her head was resting in Kai's lap, his face so close hers, his hair brushing across Izzy's forehead. He smiled and said, "you're awake." And in response, Izzy slid as fast as she could from his lap to the unoccupied forest around her. She sprang to her feet ready to flee if necessary.

"How do you feel?" he asked calmly.

"Good enough to beat you're ass if you try to knock me out again." She growled then said "Wait, I feel good…" Then Izzy looked down at her body. She was still naked from the waist up, but she was completely healthy. There were no gashes, scratches, bruises, sprained ankles, or broken anythings on her body. "What did you do?" she asked in wonder, inspecting her healed body.

"My prize healed you. Here," he said offering the small purple vial that was now half full. She took the vial, then remembering her current condition, covered her exposed body. "Uh… thanks I guess," Izzy said slowly.

Kai laughed, "you earned it." A mischievous spark entered his silver-blue eyes.

"What?" Izzy asked, suspicion rising up, then she gasped "Did you touch me while I was unconscious!?"

He chuckled "No, I wouldn't dream of violating you in that way". Izzy shivered at the _in that way_ part. He continued "I just wanted to let you know you have another chance to win a prize because you completed level two."

"What do I have to do?" Izzy sighed, although the prospect of getting another miracle prize got her excited.

"Kiss me," Kai said with a smile. And with that all panic, purpose, anger, adrenaline, and reason returned to Izzy. She had forgotten about what she was dealing with: this dangerous thing with ulterior motives with which she had gotten too comfortable. He wanted to do god knows what to her, she was playing this twisted game because of him, she was harmed by him, yet she still was comfortable waking up in his arms. She was being stupid, and she wouldn't, _couldn't_, let this happen again.

"I would _never_ kiss something like you." She spat in his face.

His eyes hardened into an expression that was deadly calm, and in a dangerously low voice said, "You'll find the next level very difficult without the proper attire." While he said this he let his gaze sink down to Izzy's exposed chest, letting his gaze linger. All this time he had never treated her nakedness like this: he had always been respectful and avoided making her uncomfortable; even though Izzy never aknowledged it. Now he gazed at her freely, his eyes hard with a sense of purpose. His entire demeanor was radiating danger.

"You will be mine Izzy." His eyes were like razors, and then he smiled slowly at her, letting his eyes wander one last time. A violent swirl of wind flew around him, and he began to fade away as snowflakes manifested themselves around him. When he was gone the vortex of snow vanished. But a steady stream of bone chilling wind whistled through the forest. Izzy shivered and felt the tiny pricks of cold on her bare shoulders which signified snowflakes melting on her skin.

She knew it wasn't winter, but that didn't matter. This new world wasn't playing by the rules she knew. Another gust of snowflake heavy wind flew into her body, causing a fit of shivers to wrack her frame. Izzy ignored her discomfort; instead she turned to follow the newly appeared path. She was determined to not have to beg Kai for mercy; but, no matter how determined she felt, Izzy couldn't ignore the sinking feeling she had at the steadily increasing cold. Kai was right about one thing: this would be very hard without clothes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! With school back I had trouble finding time to do anything other than homework. Again so sorry it took this long to write, but I hope you enjoy the new chapter.**

Whiteness swirled around Izzy, causing another attack of shivers to rack her body. She couldn't have possibly been in this level for more than fifteen minutes and she was already absolutely freezing. At first the cold had only been a mild discomfort, the occasional snow laden breeze adding to the cold. Then it had become distracting, and the gentle snowflakes began to fall in larger quantities. From that point forward things were getting steadily worse; the snow fall had become a full blown storm. Now Izzy was in pain.

A blizzard raged around her, nothing but white no matter where she turned. Izzy couldn't figure out which way was up or down, forwards or backwards. The only direction was white. As if to prove herself right she slammed into another tree, which knocked her to the ground. Red spots briefly danced across the unbroken white. Izzy felt a flash of warmth on her face and she reached up to find the source, her fingers slid into a slick, wet substance: blood. She cursed before stumbling back up, and stuck her hands out to find the tree she hit. She wasn't even a foot away but she still couldn't see the tree, it was only bitter cold white.

Blood continued to gush from her nose, but she had nothing to stanch the flow. She couldn't afford to waste the minimal clothing she had on, so she just crossed her arms over her bare torso and continued into the blizzard. The trickle began to annoy her so she tried to rub it off, all she accomplished in that was smearing her own blood all over her face. What alarmed her was the amount of blood she found, _that cannot be healthy _she thought. But still, she was worried because she couldn't slow her bleeding. _Maybe if I don't freeze to death I'll die from blood loss_.

After another twenty minutes of blind stumbling in the blizzard, Izzy could barely move. She was so cold that she had actually gone numb and stopped shivering—which she knew was a bad sign—and her head was feeling light and dizzy. All she wanted to do was sit down and give up; to throw her hands in the air and scream "uncle, you win crazy non-human dude, do whatever you want to me!" But no, she would die before that happened, and to be honest it looked as though that was actually going to be her fate. So half-conscious she continued through the snow, blood dripping down her face, and her arms waving frantically through the air to keep her from another tree-face-plant. Since she had long ago lost feeling in her hands she could tell she hit a tree by the sick thud her freezing hands made when they make contact with something.

She was scared by her lack of feeling, but semi relieved as well, it saved her from the pain she should be feeling. _Maybe_ she thought _people have it all wrong. Maybe hell is actually freezing cold instead of fiery hot because there can be no greater torture than this_. Time lost its meaning, and Izzy could care less, she just stumbled along towards her death, welcoming the icy bite of the snow that was bringing her closer to her final destination. Her legs caught in some spikey plant that she couldn't see, and even though it kept her from moving, her legs still churned trying to move forward. They didn't know any better and Izzy couldn't bring her mind to command her body otherwise. Eventually she sank to her knees, letting the spiked plant embrace her. It tore at her exposed chest but Izzy didn't care, she couldn't feel it anyways.

She curled into a ball and let her eyes slowly close. The sweet blackness behind her eyelids was a welcome change from the stark whiteness of the world around her. Warmth beckoned her deep in the blackness and she swam towards it, ignoring the voice in her head that told her to open her eyes, told her to not give up. Izzy just shoved the voice in her head away and reached out to the warm blackness in her head. Her last thought was that at least she would die on her own terms; at least she resisted Kai's wishes and would die fighting.

Kai had watched as his beautiful Izzy stumbled in the blizzard he created (He had no trouble seeing through snow and darkness as he was a shadow man and accustomed to such things.) And he watched as she slammed into a tree, breaking her nose in the process. He watched as the ruby red blood flowed down her face. He watched as she walked, slowly seeing the life ebb from her. He watched as Izzy transformed from a spirited girl to a dying robot. He watched as she gave up, wanting to die rather than give in to him. He watched because he's a shadow man and that's what he does.

The blood had transfixed him, seeing the precious fluid flow from her had been so enticing. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her lips, to kiss her bloodied face. He wanted to run his tongue down her cheek; he wanted to see how she tasted. Her very essence was contained in that red liquid, and it beckoned him in the most desperate way. The thought of finding how her blood tasted on his lips, the thought of her life's power mingling in their mouths as he kissed her was too much. He really wanted to lap the precious fluid from her beautiful face as she truly gave herself up to him.

It would be so easy to take her now, curled into ball underneath a dead bush, her life just barely flickering deep inside her body. But Kai didn't want her that way; he wanted to keep playing this game, he wanted to continue to watch her battle against his power. Seeing her believe so strongly that she could defeat him was amusing, seeing her battle so fiercely, with such determination was absolutely enticing. Besides there were still a few more levels before the game ended, and the levels coming up would be absolutely riveting. No he didn't want it to end yet.

He groaned inwardly, he was such a softie if he was going to give her a second chance. But really what did it matter if he got to watch his love struggle for a while longer. It really was a game of cat and mouse. He chuckled to himself as he got busy creating the next monster for the game, this would definitely be fun.

Kai whispered runes of creation into the air, tracing them as he spoke. He grinned at his handy work; he really was an eccentric artist. But really the credit went to the lovely Isabelle, she truly was an astounding artist, and this was one of his favorites from her sketchbook. "Get the girl at all costs but stall as you bring her to me." He said in a firm voice. The thing nodded its massive blue furred head before turning into the storm. It lumbered off into the direction Izzy lay, and Kai smiled before transporting himself closer to Izzy, he wasn't about to miss the show.

Something pulled Izzy away from the warm, comfortable, happy-place she had been residing in. The further away she got from the comfortable darkness, the more she could feel the discomfort around her. She was freezing cold, wet, and her eyes seemed to be glued shut with some sticky substance. Blood. She had forgotten what had happened to her, she forgot about why she was fighting. She had been willing to just curl up and _die _which was so not cool. She had been willing to let Kai win, if she was gonna die she'd die fighting not curled up in the snow.

Izzy slowly uncurled herself from the tight ball she bee in, each limb cracking in response to movement. Immediately Izzy was met by an intense wave of pain, so sharp she couldn't help but cry out. Even though movement was excruciating she just grit her teeth and stood up, only wobbling slightly. Next she tried opening her eyes, which was incredibly difficult because of the smeared blood. When her eyes finally snapped open she was greeted by the endless white of the blizzard. With her mind fully operating she also noticed her nose was completely clogged with blood, which only made breathing harder. The cold air burned down her throat as she gasped for more oxygen. The only thing she had going for her was the fact that she was so numb she couldn't feel the cold, which when she thought about it may not have actually been a good thing.

She took a tentative step out of her thorny refuge and when she discovered that her legs could hold her weight began to walk back into the blizzard. While Izzy stumbled through the blizzard she couldn't help but wonder about Kai. What was the point of this level? Why hadn't she seen any monsters that wanted to attack her or at least a path to get her where she was supposed to be? Maybe Kai was so pissed off he just wanted her to die rather than finish this stupid game.

Just as she was thinking about this a gravely roar thundered through the blizzard. To Izzy it sounded like lion-bear on steroids had just stepped on a thorn. She couldn't help but smile at her mini joke. A second guttural below broke her out of her absurd amusement. Izzy was momentarily relieved to hear a monster coming after her, but that also vanished quickly being replace by fear for her life. A third roar sent her running into the whiteness, arms flailing in blind panic as she fled.

What she guessed to be a tree root sent Izzy tumbling to the ground, causing her to twist her ankle in the process. She cursed violently between gasps of pain, why couldn't she have good luck for once. _Because Kai doesn't want you to_ she thought dryly. Still it seemed grossly unfair that in every level she got injured making her chance of escape ten times smaller than it already was. Another—much closer—thunderous roar sounded off behind her, making Izzy turn her head in its direction.

There in the sea of white loomed some massive ape creature with shaggy, blue fur. Izzy recognized it immediately; it was the blue snow monster she had seen drawn in her sketch book. It was hard to believe that only yesterday she had been admiring the picture of the monster that stood before her, even harder to believe she had been the one to draw its model. It seemed like all of those years of drawing monsters had actually been Izzy digging her own grave.

With slow, deliberate steps it shuffled closer, its shrewd pig-like eyes gleaming with an evil sort of intelligence. Izzy gave a tiny squeak of terror before bolting to her feet. She sprinted into the blizzard, her ankle screaming in protest as she ran. It felt like someone was stabbing her as she ran; it was even more painful than when she was running from the tree monsters. Soon she was wheezing painfully and slowed down to a trot. Black spots were dancing across her vision, probably from blood loss. And her head was light and dizzy, she had to stop. Thank-fully the blue thing was slow and it was far behind her lumbering through the snow. In fact she could barely hear its distant roar. She stumbled to a stop, gasping and coughing, with blackness swimming around her eyes.

Izzy doubled over forcing air in-and-out of her lungs but even as she breathed deeply she knew she was too late. The world was spinning and and colors were exploding behind her eyes. Before she even realized what was happening the ground came rushing up to meet her.

…

Slowly the world came back to Izzy, the colors white and blue crowding into her vision. Her head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton and it felt like every breath was filled with razor blades. She knew something was wrong, she remembered fainting but it was hard to worry because she was surrounded by softness and warmth. Warmth! She was supposed to be in a blizzard running from one of Kai's monsters. The wrongness of everything sent the brain back to fully operational and she could fully comprehend her surroundings. Her face was mashed up against a warm blue furred wall, which to her horror meant exactly what she was afraid of. She was in the arms of the blue snow monster, being carried like a baby through the blizzard. It must have gotten her while she was unconscious.

She turned herself around in its arms to see the world around her. Too her amazement the blizzard was no longer raging; instead of the impenetrable whiteness she was greeted by the forest. Everything was blanketed in a fine coat of fresh powder snow, making everything absolutely magical. Marring the beauty of the snow laden forest was the blasted rock looming in the distance. It was the same rock Kai kept on trying to bring her too, the one that had to be defying every single natural law to be there because there was no way she had been going in circles this entire time. Seeing its ugly, stony face reminded Izzy of the trouble she was in, she didn't have to be told to know being trapped at that rock would mean she'd lost.

She looked around searching for an escape; in the condition she was in she seriously doubted her ability to successfully fall to the ground from this height. And even if she did get back down to earth without breaking bones she would still likely pass out from exertion. No, they'd be no falling to freedom. With the rock getting ever closer her options were running out. Only after a branch nearly took off her head did she get her inspiration.

The blue ape monster didn't seem to be paying attention; it just kept on shuffling to the rock like a mindless robot. Carefully repositioning herself so her legs were tucked under her, she waited patiently for her one and only chance. Then she sprang, using the creature trunk like limb that had previously been restraining her for leverage. She grasped the tree branch in her hands, with her arms feeling like they were about to be torn from their sockets. Without waiting to let the pain register she swung herself up on the branch. An outraged roar sounded off a few feet away from her; she was eye level with the monster. Just as its arms came up to sweep her off the tree she scrambled for the branch above her, she felt the branch bend under the pressure of the monsters massive hands just as her feet left it.

A low growl exploded from the monsters throat as it tried to reach for her again but Izzy ignored it. She leapt nimbly from one branch to the next, her years of tree climbing finally showing. She only stopped when she when the branches became too thin to support her weight, only then did she look down. The monster was waving its massive arms and trying without success to jump. All the branches in its reach had been broken in its attempt to reach her, but she was just too high up. The creature was just letting out another deep, angry howl when it just disappeared, gone out of thin air.

While wondering about the monster something delivered a quick shove to her shoulder blades, and then Izzy was falling. One branch hit her squarely in the face as she fell; others tore at her still exposed torso. Then she just stopped falling, her face staring at the ground a few feet below her. A deep chuckle rumbled against her body she realized she was in Kai arms. She sprang from his hold like she was touching fire, and when she turned to him only hatred filled her heart.

"Why'd you do that?" Izzy hissed.

"Oh would you rather I left you stranded in that tree, or would you prefer that I'd just let you fall." Kai said mockingly

"I'd _rather_" Izzy spit out "not talk you at all, in fact I'd rather be home alone in my bed. But nooo instead a crazy who-knows-what is trying to kill me! I'd rather not be in this situation at all!" Kai just smiled with a cold and strange look in his eye. Then:

"Congratulations on winning this level. For your prize I will give you two options." He said it as if he rehearsed it; Kai was definitely acting stranger than usual.

"Alright, just give me my prize and let me get back to beating your sorry ass" Izzy said vehemently.

A strange almost violent look passed over Kai's face before he said, "You may either get a shirt or food and water."

"…" Izzy couldn't believe it, this was so cruel. She couldn't deny her hunger but worse than that was the burning thirst that she hadn't realized she felt. Her mouth was dry and gritty with the metallic taste of her own blood, and the reason she felt faint may not have been only because of blood loss. But still not having a shirt or at least some covering had been excruciating, and Kai made it clear that he had no problem taking advantage of that.

"Just give me food and water" Izzy snapped impatiently.

Kai smiled as if enjoying a private joke and then said "Excellent choice. I knew you were a smart girl."

Now wary of his new seemingly friendly attitude Izzy said "But it can't be poisoned or anything… right?"

"Of course" Kai scoffed, "I'm not a cheater."

"I wouldn't say that…" Izzy said under her breath while staring at the ground. A bright red splotch appeared on the dusty earth, she was bleeding _again _because of her fall from the tree. She had apparently split her lip. Izzy was still staring at her blood when suddenly her arms were being squeezed to the point of pain.

"Look at me" Kai ground out, fury seeping from his voice. Izzy obeyed out of sheer terror. Rage was coming off in waves from his body, and his silvery blue eyes had a sort of murderous rage in them.

"I have been fair. More than fair actually, you're alive because I let you live. I could have beaten you last level, I could have beaten you in all the levels. I decide who wins, when they win. Do not challenge me Izzy. You wouldn't like to see what I could do to a girl like you. Do you understand?" Kai said this all in a deathly quiet voice, and all Izzy could do was stare with her eyes wide in terror.

"I said do you understand!" Kai yelled out while squeezing Izzy tighter. Izzy squeaked in shock and pain before murmuring "Yes".

"Good" Kai said with a sick smile "now that we see how fair I can be I think I'll collect my own prize."

Before Izzy could even catch his meaning, his lips were on hers. He wasn't gentle; he was violent, firmly pressing against her. Pain was rolling through Izzy, he was pressing to hard against her battered body. His tongue slid out of his mouth like a snake and dabbed at the cut on her lips, all while Izzy was struggling. She had her mouth firmly shut, but he was forcing his way in, and soon his tongue was sweeping through her mouth. His hands were roaming freely, slipping in and out of her pants before sliding up to her chest. When he gripped her breast Izzy tried to scream, but it was useless. Then he squeezed one of her boobs with the hand that he wasn't using to restrain her, but he was squeezing too hard, he was hurting her.

He bit her lower lip, Izzy guessed it was supposed to be sexual but instead it was painful, he was just too rough and maybe that's what he meant to be. Blood gushed from her split lip into his mouth and Izzy couldn't help but start crying. As sobs wracked her body she felt him smile against her lips, and then finally he was gone. Izzy collapsed to her hands and knees still crying. She had never felt so dirty, or so violated. When she raised her head she saw that Kai had thankfully disappeared. Where he once stood finding creative ways to violate her was a clean, neat picnic spread primly on a red-plaid blanket.

Kai was gone but her body and lips were still stinging from his abuse, Izzy had never been so scared of anything in her life, and she had a feeling Kai wasn't even close to being done with her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys I'm super sorry I haven't posted a chapter in awhile! Totally my bad but with school and everything I couldn't find the time. Hopefully with summer here I'll be able to wrap this story up. Thanks for making it this far :) enjoy!**

Izzy stared down at the picnic contemplating her options. She knew she needed food and water to keep her already beat up body going but still she couldn't bring herself to touch the basket. She didn't want to touch anything even remotely related to Kai let alone a gift from him. Izzy felt as though she'd had enough of Kai to last a lifetime and desperately hoped to never see him again; of course that was wishful thinking. There'd be many more encounters yet before his perverse game ended.

She finally relented and bent down to the basket. Izzy knew she couldn't let her emotions and hurt feelings alter her actions, to make it through this she needed to keep a level head. If eating and drinking were what was best for her then so be it, she needed her strength to beat Kai.

The basket was no treasure trove that was for sure it only held two sandwiches, a water bottle and an apple. For some reason Izzy had expected her hard earned meal to be extravagant not something as mundane as this. Still she wasn't about to throw it away and dug in ferociously. First she gulped down the entire water bottle before tearing into the food; the only things left were an empty bottle and a very small apple core. Izzy stood up to leave eyeing the newly appeared and decidedly dark looking path into the forest. She was just stepping in the direction of the path before she realized something. The blanket! The little red plaid blanket could be used to cover her up and even keep her warm. Considering the last level warmth and cover were very important. She snatched it off the ground and wrapped herself up in it, finally covering her bare chest.

She couldn't believe how stupid Kai was; he gave her food _and_ a clothing substitute. Perhaps he wasn't as clever as she had assumed. Or maybe, Izzy thought, he knew what he was doing but gave her the disguised gift anyways. Maybe it was a trap but there was no way she'd give up the meager cover now.

Currently armed with a full stomach and a blanket Izzy started down the dark forest path. The forest was really becoming more menacing with its dark shadows and gnarled pines but Izzy took comfort in the forest anyways. At least it wasn't a destroyed city or worse an old abandoned hospital. Just as she thought this Izzy tripped over a root that was definitely not on the path before. _Ha Ha Kai very funny _Izzy thought as she picked herself up off the dusty ground.

After at least forty minutes of walking nothing had changed, the dark forest stilled surrounded her and the silence was thick as ever. _Perhaps_ Izzy thought _now he's just trying to tire me into submission_. The thought scared her but really what could she do but keep walking? Stopping was out of the question because that would be surrendering which was completely unacceptable. Another five minutes of walking passed before something had changed.

Izzy could just barely detect it, but it was definitely there. A slight change in the air, a different scent and texture but Izzy knew it instantly. You didn't live your life in the mountains without developing a nose for what she smelled. There was a fire, far away, but there no doubt.

Izzy had always had a fear of fire; she had had it since she was a kid. The shock of seeing a portion of her precious forest black and dead had created a permanent fear and hatred of the destructive thing. And now there was no doubt in her mind that fire was going to be part of this level. Instinct was screaming for Izzy to turn away from the direction of the scent, to avoid the danger, but she couldn't, she had to go on. Izzy couldn't win if she didn't get through the level, and losing was not an option. So she grit her and continued towards the smell of fire, which was steadily becoming stronger.

Her apprehension grew the nearer she got to the source and ten minutes later she found what she feared. She stood at the edge of the cliff and stared at the view before her. It was nothing but charred forest stretching from horizon to horizon. Long black trunks jutted from the ground like skeletal fingers and wisps of black smoke rose from various points of the dead forest. Small gray flakes of ash drifted up from the forest below and swirled around her feet while a fresh gust of smoke assaulted her nose. Even though she wasn't particularly fond of this demonic forest she couldn't help the twist of sadness she felt at the spectacle. But she had to go down there; she knew it even though she didn't want to.

Izzy took a deep breath preparing for her descent and immediately began coughing because of the ash laden air. After the fit subsided she swung herself the edge of the cliff and began the treacherous climb down. She lost her footing at one point and started sliding down the face of the cliff skinning her hand as she desperately searched for more holds. After a painstaking climb down from the ledge above Izzy finally reached the ground. A puff of ash swirled around her feet when she touched the ground and Izzy found the air was much worse down there. A new barely distinguishable path snaked around on the gray ash-covered ground and Izzy hesitated before taking it. Her eyes quickly began to water and her nose was burning. She wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders and covered her nose with a corner before continuing to walk.

Izzy was very scared of this new dead forest and not because of the blackened scenery. Izzy knew there was no fire but there was a possibility, fire had a way of coming back. There were undoubtedly pockets of still smoldering embers hidden away waiting for a breeze or slight disturbance to spark and ignite another raging fire. Izzy knew from experience that the danger of a fiery death was still there, hidden under a log or pile of ashes. Izzy also knew that Kai was definitely going to act on her fears.

Just as she came to this conclusion a loud snap sounded of to her right. She turned in fear and saw a black tree beginning to creak and waver, moving seemingly on its own accord. At first she thought it was a monster but she realized with a sinking feeling what was happening: that tree was about to fall. Her eyes widened just as a final snap sounded and watched as gravity pulled the dead tree down. It hit the ground with a thud and a swirl of ash flew into the air, along with hisses and pops that could only mean one thing.

To Izzy's horror sparks flew from beneath the tree flying into the air, some fizzled out but others landed on dead brush and other charred trees. The fallen tree burst into flames while other dead plants began to glow a hot red signifying that they too were about to join their fallen comrade.

Izzy had seen enough, level four had begun. She turned from the disaster in progress and ran down the trail, a chorus of pops and whooshes coming from behind her. She ran but the noises were only getting louder and she turned to see that the fire was rapidly spreading; it was about twenty yards behind her. Nope, this was not a natural fire it was spreading far too quickly for that. Just as she was about to turn to continue her escape a piece of the flames separated itself from the group. It flew from tree to tree setting everything it came in contact with ablaze. This ball of flames was shooting straight towards Izzy.

Izzy let loose one scream before turning and sprinting down the path, trying to escape the rapidly approaching fire-ball. Trees to her left began bursting into flames and she turned to get her first good look at the monster of this level. What she had assumed to be a Kai fueled ball of flame was actually what appeared to be a serpent made of fire, keeping pace with Izzy by spreading through the ugly black trees.

The serpent appeared to have no body except for fire but Izzy could still make out eyes and a mouth. The eyes were glowing red and shifted through the fire making it impossible to find the head and the mouth appeared to be a gaping hole that followed the eyes. Izzy knew of course the sketch the monster was modeled after, which really was a beautiful one because of the colors. The sketch was decidedly less beautiful to Izzy now, because she was staring into the eyes of the real thing. She continued to run trying to escape the living fire that seemed to have no trouble keeping up with her.

The flaming serpent flew right across Izzy's path setting the other side of the forest along with Izzy's blanket ablaze. Izzy wildly flung down the picnic blanket but not before getting burned in the process. This exposed her skin to the infernal heat that surrounded her. Soon Izzy began gasping and coughing, choking because without the blanket she was breathing the ash and smoke from the fire. The monster streaked at her again, its flames singing her skin causing Izzy to shriek and stumble. She tumbled to the ground only to feel the impossibly hot flames licking her skin, getting ready to consume her.

She jumped back on her feet trying to avoid more pain from the fire, and resumed running. Out of the corner of her eye Izzy saw the fire serpent getting ready to launch itself at her again. To avoid contact with it Izzy made a sharp turn, just in time too, because she could feel the creature's heat as it blasted past. Again it attempted to fly into her and again Izzy dodged it, this happened a few more times before Izzy made a terrible realization. She was being herded again, flames being her guide, to the rock where Kai waited.

To escape that fate she turned to another direction only to come face to face with the monster. It let out a loud hiss before lunging into her, burning her flesh and then biting her with its strange mouth. Izzy cried out in pain before shaking the thing off, it made a strange laughing-like noise before melting back into the flames. More fire licked at her bare skin urging her to continue to move.

Izzy was gasping and coughing and feeling very light headed from the smoke. Her skin was reddening from the burns and the spot where the monster had bitten her was black with her skin bubbling around needle like punctures. The serpent barreled into her again, shoving her into a new direction while the heat made blisters exploded all over her body. Izzy screamed again before tumbling to the ground, her raw body screaming all the while. When she looked up she saw the boulder, and noticed she was completely walled in with flames; she was trapped. The ring of fire was slowly shrinking around her, pushing closer and closer to her doom. Somewhere in the fire the creature gave its hissing laugh again.

Then she saw him, Kai standing atop the boulder with an insane smile plastered on his face. This was the most frightening expression Izzy had ever seen him wear, and it helped make up her mind. Death was better than being tortured by him so with a hardened resolve Izzy turned and ran straight into the wall of fire.

The pain was indescribable, Izzy could feel herself turning into a human torch, but it was better than Kai. At least this was a righteous death in her mind. The flames were endless, she could see no end to the fiery prison she had voluntarily ran into. She began coughing and gasping, black and red spots swam into her burning eyes and then a breath of actual air entered her lungs. It was smoky, ash filled, hot, thick air; but it was air not the suffocating heat of the fire.

Izzy had made it through, she had actually ran through a wall of fire to escape Kai, she won the level. But just as thoughts of victory entered her mind a familiar hiss floated through the air. She turned to see the serpent sliding from the flames, winding its way through trees towards her. It wasn't over yet.

Izzy stumbled away from the creature she couldn't manage running because the pain was too much. Her burns were still fresh and full of pain and the lack of oxygen had caught up with her. She turned to see the serpent was taking its time setting the entire forest ablaze behind her, it clearly knew she was in no shape to evade it a second time.

As the minutes dragged by Izzy grew weaker, the pain was blinding and it felt as though it were her lungs on fire and not the forest. Another fit of coughing wracked her body and the world was blurring and spinning, she knew she couldn't hold on much longer. Another hiss floated from the now slowly spreading fire, reminding her of the imminent doom that awaited her.

She felt something drip down from her face and was surprised to find herself crying. Her entire face was soaked in tears while her blood dripped down from burns and cuts. She was slowly dying, she could feel it, and the pain was steadily overpowering her will to live. Izzy stumbled and fell, landing on the ash covered ground, causing her raw skin to shriek in pain. She hauled herself up, her muscles shaking with effort, and blood splattered on the gray soot. She got on her feet once more and almost fell again because of another round of coughing.

She stumbled forward again only to fall back onto her knees before doubling over once more to cough up the foul air. Her vision was blurred and created a phantom double for every object, and more tears streamed down her face. _Why am I here, what did I do to deserve this? _She wanted to scream but her throat was too dry and swollen to even let her cry. She got up once more and tried to go on as another evil hiss floated from the fire spreading behind her.

She staggered on wobbling as she went but miraculously keeping her balance. Then without warning she fell, flying forward into a pile of ash. Except it wasn't ash it was warm water. She flailed around in the strange water, inhaling the stuff as she struggled. Izzy finally righted herself and saw what she had fallen in: a river with a thick layer of ash floating on the surface. An idea slowly formed in her foggy mind spurring her to weakly paddle forward. In her physical state this was harder than it should have been, her remaining clothes were weighing her down and she was constantly coughing up water, ash, or both.

As she got to the middle of the river she really began to struggle, and began sinking despite her efforts. _Maybe drowning is better than burning to death _Izzy thought but she still tried to reach the other side. Soon she was inhaling more water and ash than air and her paddling grew weaker. Izzy could no longer see clearly and wasn't able to figure out how close the opposite bank was. Izzy finally reached the point where she could no longer keep herself afloat so she began to slowly sink deeper into the water. Maybe it was time she gave up and ended her suffering. Then she felt the muddy bottom of the river.

She wasn't nearly as deep as she thought, she could almost stand. Izzy realized she was almost at the opposite bank. With one final exertion she launched herself forward, flailing as she struggled to find footing and the surface. When she could stand she dragged herself forward, when that became too much she crawled. And finally she dragged herself on dry land before collapsing.

Izzy cracked open one eyes and saw across the bank the fuzzy glowing outline of the still spreading fire. She also saw the glowing shape of what she assumed to be the serpent, which appeared to be looking for something, looking for her. She managed a small smile with her dry, cracked, slightly burnt lips before letting out the loudest moan she could manage with her damaged throat. It was hard to tell for sure with her blurred eye sight but she thought she saw the monster turn this way. Yes. She saw it sliding in her direction, it was moving fast. She figured it was excited by her state, because for all intents and purposes she had appeared to give up. It was approaching faster now; Izzy hoped it didn't notice that the belt of ash in front of it was moving.

It let out an excited hiss and leapt forward, flying towards her. Then it began its decent, preparing to jump again only to land in the middle of the ash covered river. It let out a terrifying hiss followed by a cacophony of sizzles and pops. It gave off a horrifying shriek before disappearing in a cloud of smoke and evaporating into the sky. Izzy coughed before allowing herself a victorious smile, her desperate plan had worked. Now without the danger of the fire monster Izzy shut her eyes and allowed herself to sink into unconsciousness.

…

Izzy had no idea how long she was out, but to her it didn't seem nearly long enough. She didn't know what had roused her from her pain induced slumber but when she felt a tingle down her spine she had a pretty good idea. She raised her head with a great amount of effort to look squarely into Kai menacing eyes. He appeared to be seething which was beyond Izzy because she hadn't said anything insulting yet. She couldn't help but think he had becoming increasingly more unstable since the beginning of the game, she figured that was a bad sign.

"You were not supposed to win this level." Kai said in a low and dangerous voice.

"Well I did, I guess" Izzy croaked before lying her head back down on the ashy sand.

"No, no! That's not how the game is supposed to work! I'm in control!" Kai yelled looking completely insane.

Izzy decided this was a dangerous situation and remained quiet. She had learned her lesson and figured it was best not to feed his anger. She didn't want another abusive experience at the hands of Kai.

"You won't get so lucky on the next level Isabelle. Your luck has officially ran out." He said before turning to leave.

"Where's my prize for completing the last level?" Izzy said as she struggled to stand.

"You didn't earn one." Kai sneered, as he continued to walk away.

"You said you didn't cheat!" Izzy yelled after him. This stopped Kai in his tracks; he turned slowly and just looked at Izzy.

"Here" he said as he threw something at Izzy's feet.

Izzy sank to her knees and saw an intricate dagger lying on the ground. Why in the world Kai give her a dagger she thought as she admired its lovely design. It was wrought from what appeared to be silver with lovely designs swirling up the blade and diamond like gems adorning the detailed hilt. It was breathtakingly beautiful but deadly at the same time because the blade was razor sharp and wickedly pointed.

"You'll find it useful in the next level." Kai said slowly.

"How many more levels are there?" Izzy said tiredly.

Kai gave a wicked smile before saying "Only one." Then he was gone, he just disappeared in thin air.

"One last level," Izzy whispered to herself as she cradled the dagger, "only one more."

The she sank to the ground still clutching the dagger. She was determined to win, she was going to beat Kai, but first she was going to rest her suffering body. Izzy knew Kai was going to go all out on this last level and she needed to be ready. Thoughts of victory swirled through her mind as exhaustion overtook her. She shut her eyes and fell asleep once again leaving the pain of her burns and wounds in favor of the dark clutches of sleep.

**Okay so now I don't even know where my story's going, its changed so much from how I originally thought it would be. I guess I'll be just as surprised as you guys when I see how Izzy handles the next level. Thanks again guys, hopefully I'll be posting chapters more often now.**


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